Amazon.com volatility pulls back on better than expected Q2 and outlook Amazon.com July weekly call option implied volatility is at 33, August and September is at 27, compared to its 52-week range of 21 to 68, suggesting decreasing price risk.

Pandora soars after results, guidance top estimatesShares of internet radio provider Pandora (P) are rising after the company’s second quarter results beat analysts' expectations. The company's third quarter and fiscal year 2015 revenue outlooks also exceeded the consensus. WHAT'S NEW: Thursday after the bell, Pandora reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share of 5c and revenue of $285.56M, easily topping analysts’ consensus estimates of 2c and $283.06M, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $16.3M, a 29% year-over-year improvement. The company also said that total RPMs increased 24% to $53.91 in Q2, ad RPMs grew 25% to $49.94, ad revenue was $230.9M and said total mobile revenue was $229.7M. For the quarter, total listener hours increased 5% to 5.3B and active listeners were 79.4M at the end of Q2 compared to 76.4M from the same period last year. Looking ahead to Q3, the company forecast revenue of $310M-$315M, slightly ahead of analysts' consensus estimates of $309.2M, and sees Q3 adjusted EBITDA of $25M-$30M. For FY15, Pandora forecast revenue of $1.175B-$1.185B, slightly better than analysts' consensus of $1.17B. Pandora also sees FY15 adjusted EBITDA of $75M-$85M and a tax rate of 30%-35%. WHAT’S NOTABLE: Brian McAndrews, the company's Chief Executive Officer, commented on Apple Music, Apple's (AAPL) recently launched music streaming service. McAndrews said that since the app launched at the end of June, "there was no impact yet" to Pandora. Going forward, McAndrews said that the company "feels really good about our trajectory and competitive position," noting that "there could be some users that experiment with [Apple Music] and there could be some short-term impact." McAndrews does not see any long-term impact from the Apple app. ANALYST REACTION: This morning, analyst commentary has been mixed. Research firm Stifel said Pandora's outlook remains favorable. Stifel said that the company plans to intensify its marketing efforts during the seasonally stronger 2H15 and that the company's outlook for 2H15 has improved following the results. The firm kept a $25 price target and Buy rating on the shares. Another firm, JMP Securities, said Pandora’s mobile trends were encouraging, but said it will stay on sidelines until the company's user trends accelerate and its royalty case concludes. JMP Securities kept a Market Perform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Pandora rose $2.05, or about 14.8%, to $15.93 on nearly twice its average daily trading volume. Despite today’s advance, the shares have fallen approximately 45% over the past year.

Amazon shares, price targets soar following earnings beatShares of Amazon.com (AMZN) are surging this morning and research firms are rushing to increase their price targets on the stock after the e-commerce giant unexpectedly reported a quarterly profit and gave a better than expected revenue forecast for its new quarter. UPGRADES: Barclays analyst Paul Vogel upgraded Amazon to Overweight from Equal Weight, saying the online retailer's margins are expanding much faster than previously thought. Vogel views the company's outside the U.S. and Web Services revenue growth as both a surprise and sustainable, telling investors that the second quarter "was too good in our view to wait" for an upgrade. He raised his price target for Amazon shares to $700 from $412. B. Riley analyst Scott Tilghman also upgraded Amazon this morning, upping it to Buy from Neutral as he also believes the company's revenue upside looks sustainable. Tilghman, who believes margin upside is likely to follow, raised his price target for the stock to $646 from $428. TARGETS ABOVE $700: JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth raised his December 2016 price target for Amazon.com to $710 and reiterates an Overweight rating on the stock, as he believes Amazon is now benefiting from its investments in Prime, category expansion and fulfillment centers. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak hiked his price target on Amazon.com to $740, which is the highest among firms tracked by Bloomberg at time of writing. Nowak, who entitled his note "The Everything Quarter," said the company's business is inflecting around the globe and noted that top-line growth accelerated in all four of its main retail segments for the second quarter in a row. PRICE ACTION: In early trading following its report last night, Amazon shares jumped 16% to about $561 per share.

On The Fly: Pre-market Movers UP AFTER EARNINGS: Amazon (AMZN), up 20.7%... Pandora (P), up 10.3%... Juniper (JNPR), up 9.1%... Visa (V), up 6.7%... Starbucks (SBUX), up 5%... Skyworks (SWKS), up 2.6%... American Airlines (AAL), up 2.1%. ALSO HIGHER: SolarCity (SCTY), up 2.5% after being upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Tripadvisor (TRIP), down 8.5%... Biogen (BIIB), down 14.1%.

YouTube updates app, to offer VR, Engadget saysGoogle's YouTube has updated its mobile app, adding Home, Subscriptions, and Account tabs, Engadget reports. Users can watch full-screen vertical videos with just a single tap for the first time. In addition, the redesigned app comes with a set of video creation tools, including the option to trim footage, tint the image with filters, add music, and upload creations within the app. In addition, YouTube said that virtual reality will come to the streaming service with 360-degree video, the report says. Reference Link

Amazon.com price target raised to $630 from $475 at BairdBaird analyst Colin Sebastian raised his price target for Amazon.com to $630 saying the company's Q2 was a "pristine quarter almost across the board." Accelerating growth and higher than expected margins will "prove irresistible to investors," Sebastian tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He reiterates an Outperform rating on the stock. Shares of Amazon were upgraded this morning at B. Riley and Barclays.